Unveiling the Trickster
by xLollipopful
Summary: Niou Masaharu, known as a con-artist, trickster amongst many other things. Cold and detached from others, what is he hiding from his friends? NiouxOC
1. 00 Introduction

00 | Introduction

_I thought it would be hidden, buried deep. I didn't think that it would ever be revealed. _

_And this was how it started._

~.~

Yanagi Renji is good at collecting data, but there are things even he doesn't know.

Sanada Genichirou is not nosy, but there are things even he curious about.

Yukimura Seiichi is excellent at reading people, but there are people even he doesn't completely understand.

And thus, the three demons came together.

~.~

"… so what do you want me to do?" An auburn haired girl stared at the three tennis players.

"We want you to gather information on him." Yanagi smiled.

"Senpai, this is only my first year at Rikkai, I want to survive my university years."

Sanada looked at the girl, "Sato, you are Kirihara Akaya's childhood friend. You will have no problem surviving." An unsaid '_you are ridiculous'_ lingered in the air.

"… This is Niou Masaharu we are talking about. Akaya is nothing in comparison to him!" She paused, "I don't get anything out of this."

As if Yukimura was waiting for that line, he smiled, "How about a deal?" Sanada and Yanagi opened their mouths to object, but immediately closed it when the Child of God shot them a look. "In exchange for a profile on Masaharu, Genichirou and Atobe will perform a duet at the Rikkai festival." He breathed into her ear to ensure that Sanada didn't hear anything.

"Deal!" She laughed. She knew there was a reason why she hung around the tennis team.

"Amaya!" Kirihara shouted as he saw his childhood friend at tennis practice, "What are you doing here?"

"Oi! Is that how you greet a girl?" Amaya glared at him.

"Kirihara, that is not how you treat girls."

"Yagyuu-senpai! You're being fooled by her long hair! She's not actually a gi – OW! Who the f –" He turned around to find his captain standing there.

"Akaya~" The indigo haired man sang.

"Captain! I'm sorry, I'll get right back to practice!" He hurried back to the courts as the Rikkai captain chuckled behind him.

"Niou-senpai… why are you pretending to be Yagyuu-senpai?" Amaya asked the said man as she walked away.

Niou Masaharu smirked, "Sato Amaya."

~.~

Amaya walked towards her own club, the archery club. Despite growing up with a tennis-obsessed freak, archery had been 'the sport' for her. It required strength and concentration, but most of all, it was a single-player sport. When she was playing, nobody would bother her, she could be alone.

As per usual, Amaya finished her practice session with meditation after all the other club members have left. She opened her eyes as she takes a breath and screamed. "Kirihaya Akaya! How many times have I told you not to do that when I'm meditating?!" _It is terrifying when you find a pair of green eyes staring at you right as you open your eyes after meditating._

"And how many times have I done that? You should get used to it." Amaya started to change out of her gear, yet Kirihara continued to sit there, "Wanna go for some ramen? The upperclassmen are treating."

"They offered to treat you, not me."

"The offer, of course, is extended to you as well." Jackal smiled as the rest of the tennis team walked in.

And so, Sato Amaya gets pulled along in the tennis team outing.

As the Rikkai men's tennis team (along with Amaya), sat down at the ramen shop, Sanada smirked, not that many noticed, as Yukimura whispered something in his ears.

"Akaya." Sanada's voice stern, "Why were you watching Sato change?"

"What's wrong with that?" Kirihaya stared at Sanada, his under-lying mocking tone obvious.

"You are a 19 year old male. She is an 18 year old female. And you're asking me what's wrong with that?! You," He noticed many pairs of eyes on him around the restaurant and lowered his voice, "are a pervert."

The regulars erupted in laughter after hearing their vice-captain say such words with a stern tone and straight face.

"Vice-captain…" Kirihara looked right into his eyes, "there's nothing that I haven't seen before, so what's the problem with that?"

Marui, wide-eyed, spat out a mouthful of ramen, which landed on Jackal's head. "You what?!"

"Senpai," The girl smiled, "I agree with him. We've seen each other naked more than once. At least part of me was covered this time."

Yagyuu was the one to choke on his noodles. "I apologize."

"Not quite the Gentleman when it comes to steamy things, now are you?" Yukimura chuckled.

"Steamy?" Amaya laughed, "Akaya, just tell them now. I played along already."

"You just had to go and ruin it, what's wrong with leaving them to think whatever they want?" Kirihara patted the girl's head as she smiled at him while resting her head on his shoulder. "Our families used to go to hot springs together. While the adults chatted, we used to go to the mixed ones together. We were like what? 6?"

"Puri." Niou smirked.

"You should've made it clear instead of giving us a heart attack." Sanada scolded.

"Che. What's the fun in that?" Kirihara high-fived his childhood friend.

The tennis players filtered out the ramen shop one by one. Only Yukimura, Kirihara, Niou and Amaya were left.

"Akaya, how about a game?" Yukimura suggested. The junior's eyes lit up as he heard his captain's suggestion, but then rejected his offer.

"Sorry, Captain. I have to walk her home."

"Don't worry, I can walk home alone. I'm a big girl!" She beamed, only to have her childhood friend roll his eyes at her.

"Akaya's right, a girl shouldn't walk home alone in the dark." Yukimura smiled knowingly at the auburn-haired girl, "Masaharu will walk her home, won't you?"

"If you say so." The silver-haired teen nudged Amaya to walk along, a subtle gesture that surprised both the junior ace and the Child of God.

~.~

"Masaharu, you shouldn't have done that." Amaya said softly.

"Done what? Nudge you or agree to walk you home?" He asked, no mockery evident in his voice.

"Both." She sighed, "It's been a long time."

"Exactly." He reached out to touch her face, but pulled back right before he did. "Let's go. I still have to go pick up Hiroki."

"Tell Hiro-chan mommy will go visit him soon."

"Will do."

* * *

A/N: After years of hiatus (from ff), I am finally back to writing. And of course, it is with a PoT fic! I have always been interested in Niou Masaharu, thought he was a very interesting character with lots of depth and never got enough screen time, so here I am trying to interpret him the best I can. This, I'm hoping, will be a short (5-10 chapters) fic and hoping to finish... 'soon'. (:

Please do review and give me some feedback!

With lots of love,

Jadyn (xLollipopful)


	2. 01 Hidden

01 | Hidden

* * *

Amaya was asked to meet with Yukimura in front of her last lecture hall (he had summoned her, she would rather say). "Senpai, why did you ask me to meet you here?" She asked as she looked around her, noticing a large group of female students gathering and staring.

"I thought you would want to know what types of information we want on Masaharu." The pretty boy smiled.

Amaya sighed in defeat, "That is correct, now would you mind telling me what you want to know about Niou-senpai?"

"His favourites. His likes, his dislikes. He never shows any of it, and even if he does, it is hard to tell whether or not is a pretense."

Hiding a small smile, Amaya nodded and headed off to class. She was unable to focus on her professor's lecture though. He was going on about something related to conditioning, but her mind was focused on a certain silver-haired 'trickster'.

_._

_Hey. Your hair is on fire._

_-Puri_

_._

Amaya unconsciously touched her hair as she read the text message. She never understood why people deemed Niou Masaharu a trickster. Sure, he liked to play pranks on people once in a while, but never with malicious intent. _Well, it might be because of his lack of concern of other's well-being, _she laughed inwardly.

_._

_Your ponytail has been cut off._

_By the way, an image of Jackal-senpai flashed across my mind when I read fire._

_-Ama_

_._

Within a minute, her phone vibrated again.

_._

_I'm actually debating on cutting it. Should I let you do the honour of doing that?_

_Ouch. That one actually hurt, why would you be thinking about another guy?_

_-Puri_

_._

Her relationship with him had always been blurry. And now, their relationship is even more complicated, even more blurry. None of their mutual friends knew that they knew each other privately, nor how close the two of them really were.

_._

_And why would I not be thinking about another guy?_

_We, after all, don't know each other, right?_

_-Ama_

.

She remembered the first time they met, five years ago. She remembered how she thought he was an ill-mannered child that found enjoyment in bullying her. She remembered how he became an important friend to her before she realized it.

She remembered that night where everything changed.

_._

_Look out into the hallway._

_-Puri_

.

Amaya noticed a certain blue-eyed tennis player. She smiled as she packed her books and slipped out of the lecture hall. Niou handed her a warm cup as she exited. "Thanks." She mumbled.

"Thought you would need it." He sighed, "Doubt you got much sleep last night."

She sipped the still-hot latte as the two of them walked outdoors, "And I'm sure you got even less sleep." Amaya noticed how he subtly tilted his body to face hers, hands fidgety. "Did Hiroki behave himself?"

"Yeah, he was a good boy and slept throughout the whole night. Well, he _is_ a year and a half now…" He looked up at the sky, "He misses you though."

"… Do you?" The auburn-haired girl blurted out. She's unsure why she unexpectedly had the courage to do so, or why it even mattered. _It shouldn't matter, _her conscience reminded her.

"… Yeah." He breathed.

Silence took over them as the two of them stare out into the sky, both uncertain of what to say after.

Suddenly, something breaks the silence. "Amaya!" Kirihara shouted, running towards his childhood friend.

"Hey Akaya!" Her whole aura changed from sullen to energetic. "Are you finished class already?"

"Yeah, I'm done for the day. I'm thinking of going to practice a little before killing myself with the essay." Kirihara dramatically falls onto Amaya. She giggled lightly as she looked at Niou. "Hey Niou-senpai, wanna go hit some balls?"

"It's alright Akaya, I have a lab to finish." _And a son to take care of, _he added silently.

"Aww, alright. I guess I'll go then!" Kirihara grabs Amaya by the hand and leads her to the tennis courts. "Stay with me for a little bit." He said quietly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned for her friend.

"An and I had an argument. She wants to end our relationship." Kirihara and Tachibana An had started dating in their last year of high school after getting past all their differences. After being through so much, Amaya expected for both of them to treasure their relationship a tad more.

"Why?"

"She said she's tired of our arguments, she hates how her parents don't approve."

"But you've changed. Her brother forgave you, why are her parents…" She stared at her friend with glossy eyes, "You're such an amazing guy."

Kirihara buried his head in her neck, hugging her tight. Amaya felt her collarbones getting moist, but doesn't speak up about it. Instead, she runs her hand through his hair. "Why can't her family be like yours? They have always accepted me for me, even if I wasn't their son." She winced at the mention of her family. Noticing that he said something he should never have said, he apologizes, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I was glad to have family like them too." She forced a smile. _It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. _She repeated to herself.

_But… It's not okay._

~.~

Kirihara went back to his usual self the next day, scaring her after she meditates. His teammates laughed at the site of auburn-haired girl freaking out.

"Akaya!" She yelled. "You will be the death of me!" The said boy chuckles, much at her dismay.

"Sato, do you really scream every time after you meditate and see Akaya's face?" Marui grabbed Kirihara's face with his hands, "Poor poor Akaya, he's not _that_ ugly."

As the tennis players laugh at Kirihara, Sanada suddenly dropped his bag. "Sorry." He mumbled, and attempted to hurry the tennis players out of the room.

"What's up with you, Sanada?" Niou asked, slightly irritated.

"She cannot change with us in the room." His answer evoked much laughter from the group of young men.

"Senpai, it's okay. I don't mind if you guys stay, it'll be like I'm wearing a bikini. It's no big deal." Amaya laughed playfully as the raven-haired man flushed red. "Senpai? Why are you so red? What's wrong?" She approached the blushing man, only to have him run out of the room.

"Puri." Niou smirked, as he pushed Marui out, with Jackal and Yagyuu following suit. Yukimura stared at the odd action of the trickster.

"Yukimura buchou, you're not going to leave?" Kirihara tilted his head to the side, confused.

"No," Yanagi spoke up, "We'll be waiting outside."

After the majority of the men left, Amaya started to change. "Did you and An fix things?"

"Yeah, I bought a bouquet of flowers and chocolate to visit her." He smiled proudly.

"Aww, my little boy Akaya is all grown up now!" She hugged him, without a shirt and pants half hanging off.

"Amaya. I am a 19 year old male. You should be glad I don't see you as a women, if not you would be in so much trouble." He stared at her body, "On second thought, nobody would want to anyways."

"Kirihara Akaya! I am a well-developed woman, okay?!" She yelled.

The two childhood friends walked out, only to find the group of men snickering. "Well-developed, eh?" Niou laughed, his tone slightly meaner than usual.

"Masaharu. That was unnecessary." Yagyuu, ever the gentleman, kept a straight face while he scolded Niou.

"She's right." Yanagi said while staring at her, "She is quite well-developed." He noticed what he had just said and coughed, "I mean, looking at it from a scientific perspective. Biology. Yeah. Biology."

"Never noticed," Marui dismissed, "which means it isn't that great."

"Alright! Can we just go grab a cup of coffee now?" She threw her hands up in the air and marched ahead of the snickering men.

The group of friends walked inside the café they frequented, laughing and talking as they sat down. After they ordered their drinks, another group of tennis players entered the café. "Hyotei." He looked at Atobe, and gave him a nod of acknowledgement, which was returned. "Look, it's your tango partner." Yukimura laughed at Sanada, earning a scowl from the raven-haired man.

"Yuushi…" Amaya mumbled.

As soon as Kirihara heard that name, he bolted upwards from his original state (which was having his head down on the table, ignoring everybody). He pulled Amaya's head into his chest, glaring at Hyotei's genius. "Don't let that asshole bother you." He would much rather punch Oshitari, but he would be breaking his promise with his girlfriend, so he restrained himself.

To the surprise of the group of young men, Niou got up from the table, holding his hot cup of coffee, and walked into Oshitari Yuushi. "Oops." He poured the boiling coffee onto the other tennis player. "Watch where you're walking next time. You never know what accidents might happen."

"Don't hate because I got what you never did." The blue-haired man smirked and whispered into Niou's ears.

"Be careful." Niou said, voice low and dangerous, and walked back towards his friends.

"What just happened?" Marui asked, utterly confused. "Is that Niou Masaharu?"

Yagyuu agreed with the sweets-loving tennis player, "That isn't very like you, Masaharu. I know you don't care much for others, but –" He was about to continue, but was cut off by his captain.

"Masaharu, that wasn't very polite of you."

Niou smirked, "But that was just plain out rude and unnecessary? But that crosses the line? What do you guys know anyways?" He got up and paid for his drink, then headed out.

"What just happened?" Jackal stared at Niou's silhouette.

Ignoring Jackal's question, Kirihara pulls Amaya's face out of his chest and whispers, "It's okay now."

"Ah… yeah. I'm okay." She smiled brightly, "Don't worry about me."

And she continued to talk to the group of Rikkai men as if nothing happened, ignoring the confused looks from them.

_As if nothing happened, nothing at all._

~.~

Amaya jolted up in the middle of the night. _The same nightmare._ She sighed and pulled her knees closer to her, rocking back and forth mumbling to herself, _it's just a dream. It's just a dream. It's over already._

She was knocked out of her trance by the sound of her cellphone ringing. Her cellphone was flashing a familiar name.

"Hey." She smiled at his tender voice. "Hiroki misses his mommy. Wanna drop by today?"

"Alright. I'll be there soon."

~.~

"Mama!" A small figure waddled towards Amaya. "Mama! Mama!"

"Hey Hiro-chan, did you miss mommy?" She smiled widely at him as he nodded.

"Dada make foo for mama and Hiro!" Hiroki pointed at Niou, who was wearing an apron. "Mama play. Dada go make foo."

Niou chuckled at the little boy. "Yes Hiroki, go play with mommy."

"Masaharu, are you sure you don't want me to help?" Amaya looked at the said man, who shook his head. Knowing that he would not accept her help anyways, she willingly got dragged away by the auburn-haired toddler.

After half an hour, Niou brought a tray of food for Amaya and Hiroki. He smiled as he watched the two of them animatedly ate the food he cooked.

"Oh!" Amaya suddenly spoke up, "Your three demons want me to gather information on you. They want to know what your likes and dislikes are."

"Haha," His eyes twinkled with mischief, "You didn't tell them anything yet right?"

She sighed, "What do you want me to tell them? That you hate yakiniku? Or that you're deathly afraid of screw drivers?"

"You know me too well." He laughed, "If you tell them I hate yakiniku, maybe they'll decide to go eat yakiniku as a group!"

She nodded, "And then you get to eat your favourite yakiniku."

"Exactly!" Niou picked up Hiroki and threw him into the air, who laughed.

"Niou Masaharu!" Amaya yelled, wide-eyed, "He just finished eating!" Hearing the young woman's stern tone, Hiroki wiggled out of Niou's hold and sat on her lap. He smiled brightly at her, as if he was saying, '_I didn't do anything wrong. I'm a good boy.'_

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, she picked up the toddler and headed towards Niou's room. Amaya put Hiroki down and motioned for him to lie down beside her, "Hiroki, mama's tired, let's take a nap."

"Mommy go go?" He looked sadly at her.

"No, mommy still stay here." She looked at him tenderly. He then closed his eyes and clung onto her. After around fifteen minutes, the toddler was sleeping soundly. She quietly made her way out of the room, only to see Niou put a few pills in his mouth.

Amaya sighed, "Did you reduce it at all?"

"Tried, didn't work." He looked away. "Are you staying the night?"

"Yeah, I haven't spent time with Hiroki in a while. I feel bad for him." She whispered the last part.

Niou was about to say something but stopped as he picked up his cellphone. "Hello? Yukimura?" He paused, "Getting together at the courts at 3?" He looked at Amaya who nodded, "Sure. Dinner after? We'll see."

As soon as Niou hung up, Amaya's cell phone rung, "Hello? Yukimura senpai?" She chuckled lightly, "I actually want to talk to you about it. Meet up today? Wait now?" It was her turn to look at him, who approved, "Alright. I'll meet you by the park."

He grabbed her jacket and put it on for her. "Hurry back so Hiroki won't be up before you get back."

"Yeah, I'll be quick."

~.~

She hurried to the park where Yukimura was waiting for her. "Senpai!" She smiled.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"About the deal. Can we call it off?" She asked him, slightly nervous.

He looked as if he expected her to ask him that, "Do you feel bad?"

"I just feel that it's more meaningful if you guys, as his friends, get to know him yourselves." Amaya looked up at her upperclassmen, "I'm sorry, that might have been out of line."

Yukimura looked at her seriously, "What is your relationship with him?"

"That's something you should find out yourself too, don't you think?" Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she hopped backwards. "Well, senpai, I've got to go now. Have fun playing tennis today."

As she bounced away, she heard Yukimura chuckle.

"Welcome home." A low voice greeted Amaya as she opened the door to Niou's apartment.

"I'm back." She smiled. She walked into his open arms, something neither have done since a little bit after Hiroki was born. Both of them noticed their actions and parted. "I'm going to wake Hiroki up, he won't be able to sleep at night if he sleeps any longer now."

"Alright, I'm going to go out now."

"Have fun." She smiled at him.

Before Amaya had the chance to wake up the sleeping boy, her phone rings. "Hello?" She answered without looking at who called.

"Sato Amaya." The voice on the other line made her freeze, both physically and mentally. "Answer me." The voice ordered.

"Yuushi…"

"It was nice seeing you the other day." She could practically hear him smirk. "Come out to see me now. Unless you want a beating."

"Yuushi. I –" Her phone was taken away from her hand. She stared at the familiar pair of blue eyes, hands shaking.

"You have no right to tell her to. You have no relationship with her whatsoever." She was so absorbed in her phone call she didn't notice Niou come back. "Don't ever call her again." And he hung up on Oshitari.

"Masaharu, you're back so soon?" She joked, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.

He laughed lightly, "No, I forgot my cell phone. I'll try to be back as soon as possible."

"No worries, take your time." She smiled. "I'll take care of your son."

"He's your son too." He smiled back at her before leaving to meet up with his friends.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the comments/favs/follows, it really means a lot to me! I'm hoping for regular updates around once every week. I'm working on the second chapter (one page is written already!), and since school is off for exams already, I'll have quite a bit of time to write in between work and studying.

Hiroki's first appearance, hope you guys will learn to love him as well!

Oh, and to clear things up, they are all in university now. Let's just say it's "Rikkai Univerisity" (:

With lots of love,

Jadyn


	3. 02 Revelation

02 | Revelation

* * *

As she sat by her son's bedside, she remembered the first time she met the two most important people in her life (beside Hiroki, of course).

_Kirihaya Akaya._ People call him a demon, the devil himself. He was known as a cocky tennis player that didn't care about what happened to his opponents. People called him ruthless, heartless. Misunderstood, he was always unable to show his concern towards others, and honestly, he had less than two handfuls of people that he genuinely cared about. But to those he did care about, he would go to extreme lengths to protect them.

_Nio Masaharu. _A trickster, rude and loathsome. Somebody that would not go out of his way to hurt somebody, but certainly would not mind doing so if it was convenient. It was true, but there was another side to him too. A side of him that was loving and forgiving, a side of him that he only showed to a handful of people.

_If only more people understood._

Amaya stopped thinking about the two men as Hiroki woke up, confused and staring at her. "Mama?"

"Yes, Hiro-chan?"

"You here." He smiled widely, "Wow! You here! Mommy here!"

She chuckled at his excitement, but then felt remorse. Had she really neglected him for so long? "Yes, mommy's here. Mommy promised she would be here."

"Park! Go park!" The toddler smiled and tugged on Amaya's hand. "Park! Park!"

"Alright, let's get changed first though." She sighed in defeat. There was no way that she would ever win against such a sweet, innocent smile. She helped him put on a pair of moose brown moleskin trousers, a lake blue plaid shirt and a khaki vest [1] to top it off to keep him warm from the fall breeze. She looked at her son as he stared back at her with such bright eyes and smiled. Amaya had a pair of black leggings on and decided to wear Niou's oversized grey sweater with a faux fur vest on top. She tilted her head to the side as she pondered what her outfit was missing. "Beanie!" She dug through Niou's drawer to find an appropriate beanie.

"Mama! Go park!" Hiroki rushed her as he tried to pull her towards the door.

"Okay! Let's go!"

She held his small hand in her own, and proudly walked to the park her little boy. Amaya thought about the last time that she spent quality time with Hiroki. She has been busy balancing school and work. With her parents and brother gone, she has no choice but to make her own living, limiting her time with the toddler. Thankfully, Niou decided to take care of him, mostly on his own, despite his own busy schedule.

As they arrive at the park, she watched as Hiroki stumbled off to play with the other children, climbing up and down their "mini-fort".

.

_Hey, I'll be going out with the team for dinner, would you be able to take care of Hiroki until then?_

_-Masaharu_

_._

_Yeah, it's no problem. Enjoy your time out!_

_-Ama_

_._

"Hi, are you Hiroki's mom?" One of the ladies came up to ask Amaya. She looked around thirty years old, and seemed to be a housewife.

"Yes, and you are…?" She asked, puzzled.

"I'm Tanaka Mei, Ren-chan's mom. You see the brown-haired little boy over there? That's my little boy." She beamed proudly, "It's just a shock to see that Hiroki-chan came with you today. It's usually Niou-kun that brings him here."

"Oh. Yes, he's busy today, that's why I'm bringing Hiroki here." She tried to be polite, yet keep their conversation short. She wanted to avoid any questions about their young age and having a son. It's not that she was ashamed of him; it was just annoying when others look at you with a patronizing expression. Amaya didn't want to hear that Hiroki should not have been born. _He doesn't deserve that._

"That makes sense! Niou-kun usually brings him here for a little bit every other day. That's how the two boys became such good friends. He's such a devoted father." She sighed, "If only Ren's father would be more responsible about his son."

"I didn't know that…" She whispered. The young archer felt a pang of guilt hit her. "I had no idea…"

"Mama! Look!" Hiroki tripped and fell as he ran up to her holding a wild flower. The little boy looked like he as about to cry, but held back his tears as he checked that the flower was okay. "Here Mama. Don't be sad, for you!" He handed her the flower and smiled brightly.

"I don't know if I should be telling you this, but Niou-kun usually looks really down when he's here. He's a bit hard to approach, the other moms and dads are a bit scared of his cold demeanor. However, when Hiroki runs up to him whenever he finds something interesting, his eyes light up like how yours did just now."

"Hiroki's lucky to have a father like him." She said quietly, ashamed of herself.

"And he's lucky to have you as a mother too. I can tell that you love him a lot." The older woman smiled at her warmly, "I don't know what kind of relationship the two of you have, but it's admirable that despite being so young, both of you are such responsible parents."

"I don't know about me, but he really is."

"Oh dear, don't say that about yourself. You know you did something right when your little boy will pick a flower for you instead of playing. Mine is still busy entertaining himself." She laughed lightheartedly.

Amaya smiled at her, "Thanks Tanaka-san. I really appreciate it." She looked at Hiroki and motioned for him to come over. The little boy came rushing to his mom, hands extended for a hug. She patted the auburn-haired boy's back and wiped his hands clean with an antibacterial hand wipe. "Hopefully I'll see you soon, Tanaka-san." Amaya turned to Hiroki, "Say bye-bye to Auntie, Hiroki."

"Bye-bye!" The little boy said happily. "Foo?"

"Alright, let's go get some food. How does some ramen sound?" She asked Hiroki, who nodded in agreement.

The two of them entered a nearby noodle-shop, hand-in-hand. After a server pointed them to a table where they could sit at while he gets a booster seat for the two-year-old, Hiroki suddenly started tugging at Amaya's hand. He pulled her towards the side of the restaurant as she looked through her purse for another wet wipe to wipe Hiroki's hand before he eats.

"Dada!" Hiroki exclaimed, causing Amaya's head to shoot up and find herself staring at Niou and the rest of them team. _Shit, _she thought.

"Hiroki?" Niou widened his eyes in surprise. "Amaya?!"

"So this is the type of relationship that you guys have." Yukimura chuckled lightly as the rest of the group stared at them, dumbfounded. It wasn't long before the rowdy group tennis players were demanding to know 'what the fuck is going on'.

"Sato, why are you wearing Niou's sweater?"

"Masaharu, she's wearing your beanie! Your _beanie_ that you never let anybody touch."

"Sato, who is this little boy here?"

"Masaharu, you never told us you had a child!"

"What the fuck is going on?!"

"Be quiet and let Masaharu explain this himself." Sanada attempted to hide his amusement with how flustered the trickster looked for once.

Niou sighed and walked over to Amaya and nudged for her to sit down in his seat while he arranged for a couple of additional seats with the server. He came back holding a booster seat and pushed the table of two next to them against their own table. Putting down the booster seat in between his chair and Amaya's chair, he picked up his son and sat him down.

"So?" Marui finally asked. "Are you going to tell us, or are we going to have to guess?"

"Masaharu, you might as well tell them. They're going to come up with wild stories about us otherwise." She laughed. It wasn't that she was ashamed of their relationship; it was just that she wasn't ready to tell their story to others back then. "Hiroki, can you go help Uncle Akaya to pick a flower for his girlfriend?"

"Okay!" He said as he was put down on the floor again. He extended his hand out to Kirihara, who took the little hand in his and led him out of the restaurant. Amaya mouthed a 'thank-you' to her understanding best friend.

"Amaya is my wife. Hiroki's my son." Niou said plainly, his voice extremely serious. "Teenage parents. Nothing new. Happens all the time."

"Wait. What?!" Surprisingly, it was Jackal that spoke this time.

"Masaharu." She said sternly, "Please."

"Alright." He sighed, "Amaya's my mistress. And Hiroki is my son."

"Masaharu." She glared at him this time, hoping that he would just explain to their friends their situation so that she wouldn't have to do it herself.

"Fine. Ruin my fun." He looked to the side, "My sister married Amaya's brother a few years ago. Hiroki is their son. My parents never approved of their relationship and disowned my sister as soon as she got married. About two years ago, Amaya's parents were coming back from a business trip and my sister went with Amaya's brother to go pick them up at the airport. The plane crashed, killing them, while my sister and brother-in-law were in a fatal car accident. Amaya's brother died instantly, since he turned the car so that his side would be hit first. At the hospital, my sister had to make the decision to save her unborn child or herself. She chose her baby. That's Hiroki. Satisfied?"

A pregnant pause filled the air, nobody daring to say anything. Scared to set off a bomb, they held back their questions.

Yanagi was the one to break the silence, "But why would Hiroki call you dad?"

"Hiroki is our child now." He motioned to Amaya and himself. "My parents refused to take care of him."

"Why do you and Sato-san pretend not to know each other then?" Jackal asked, a question that all of them were curious about.

"If we were to act like we knew each other _and_ had a child, rumors would go wild and his fans would go wild." Amaya spoke up, "We had enough to deal with without all that."

"That makes sense." Yagyuu nodded his head, "But why did you hide it from us?"

"Hide it from you guys?" Niou smirked, "I never hid it. I just never divulged in my private life and you guys never bothered to ask."

"Masaharu, we are your friends." Unexpectedly, it was Yukimura who spoke, "You can talk to us when things get hard."

"It's not that simple." Niou said, his tone harsh.

Another pregnant pause surrounded their table, unsure of what to say to the silver-haired man.

It wasn't long until Kirihara came back with a mini bouquet, courtesy of the smiling boy holding his hand. "Hiroki got hungry." He said sheepishly, sensing the aura around the tennis players.

"Alright Hiroki, come over here." Niou turned to face the said boy, to have him run into his arms. He put Hiroki back into his seat and proceeded to order food for the mother and child. Wiping down Hiroki's utensils, Amaya smiled at him and kissed his cheek when she as done. _Goodness, I miss this bundle of joy._

"Dada too! Muah dada too!" Hiroki pulled Niou by his ponytail and pointed to his cheek. Amaya complied and kissed Niou's cheek, unfazed by the stares that she got from the rowdy men.

"Wow, he didn't even ask what they wanted. It was like, he just knew. And she just kissed him like that." Marui stared at him awe, "They're like a real family."

"Bunta. They _are_ a real family." Yukimura corrected the red-head.

"Sorry, but one thing has been bothering me." Yanagi furrowed his brow, "From my data, I see that you two aren't living together."

"Eh?! Why not? It would make things so much easier!" Marui exclaimed.

Noticing Amaya's expression, Niou cut in before anybody could say anything, "Let's just drop it." Hiroki stared at his father, confused at his tone. He had never heard his father use such a tone before.

"Hiroki, why don't you tell daddy about what you did at the park today?" Amaya said gently, trying to distract the boy.

"Okay!" He seemed to immediately forget about what the was thinking about earlier, "Pretty flower! Mama smile!"

"What a good boy you are. Daddy's proud of you!" Niou smiled gently at his child, delighted that he noticed his mother's mood and attempted to cheer her up.

"How do you understand that?!" Kirihara dramatically switched between looking at Hiroki and Niou. "No matter how much I try to understand him, it doesn't seem like I've improved at all. It's the same as a month ago!"

"Akaya, you knew?!" Marui looked at the younger man, bewildered. "Why?! How?!"

"Akaya's our babysitter."

"And Hiroki's godfather." He added proudly.

"A godfather that doesn't understand what his godchild is saying." Amaya mumbled, laughing to herself.

And dinner was served; and lots of smiles and laughs came from the table, with Hiroki being the cause of most of them.

* * *

Amaya put Hiroki to bed, and walked out to Niou's living room.

"Hey. You stole my favourite sweater and beanie." Niou looked up from the textbook he was taking notes from. "You need to pay for it."

"It's called borrowing. I paid for it by letting you be in my presence."

"Wanna stay the night?"

"It sounds so dirty coming from you after telling me that I need to 'pay for it'." She laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh stop it you. Stop making me laugh, you're going to wake up Hiroki!"

"So, are you going to stay?"

"Do you mean long-term?" She asked quietly, noticing the sincerity in his voice.

"You know how much Hiroki would love that."

"And you?" She stared at his blue eyes, hoping to find the answer there, but he turned away before she was able to do that. "It's okay. Don't answer that. I shouldn't have asked that in the first place."

"You always ask questions you know the answer to." He sighed, turning back to his textbook to take more notes. It was a trait that Niou wasn't particularly fond of, especially because all the questions that she has a tendency to ask has been asked and answered.

"Things have changed though…" Amaya turned to look out the window, spotting stars in the dark sky. "Just when I thought _he_ was my star, but when in fact, he was only a military plane. And it was then when my constellation has faded out from the galaxy too. I feel like I've faded out when them."

Niou Masaharu got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around the girl's waist as he put his chin on her shoulder. _But I've found mine, and I'm not letting my star fade out._

* * *

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A/N: So... it has been _around_ a week, hasn't it? I am in the midst of my finals and getting another job, which has interfered with my writing. But, nonetheless, I have updated :3 I hope that this chapter wasn't too much of a disappointment. I had a lot of fun writing Hiroki and his interaction with both Amaya and Niou. And just as a side-note... Although Niou Masaharu might seem a tad OOC, I do think that most people do change how they interact with different people. This chapter explains why Niou treats Amaya differently, and much more delicately.

Thanks for reading!

With lots of love,

Jadyn


	4. 03 Trapped

03 | Trapped

Amaya woke up to a soft plup. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find Hiroki's large eyes staring back at her. She rolled the toddler off her chest and placed him beside her and put her arms around him to motion him to go back to sleep. On the other side of the bed, Niou lied there wide-awake, observing the mother-son interaction. As soon as Hiroki turned over to look at him, he closed his eyes to pretend to be sleeping. Sighing, the boy closed his eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep. Both adults smiled, their hands intertwined and resting softly on Hiroki's stomach.

With the soft click of the door, a group of men entered Niou's bedroom.

"Renji! You fool!" Sanada growled, clearly in a foul mood, "You said it was a 90% chance that it would be safe to come!"

"Senpai! I only agreed to open the door because you said it was safe!" Kirihara exclaimed, worried for his life. Niou had gave Kirihara his apartment keys to make it more convenient for when he had to watch Hiroki, not for him to walk in on his blissful morning. He knew that Niou would do drastic things to get revenge, and he knew that it might involve his precious video games.

"Masaharu, sorry to suddenly impose you, but we were wondering if you would like to go to Disneyland today." Yukimura flashed his best smile.

Niou sat up, with his torso bare, careful to not wake the sleeping boy. Thankfully, Hiroki was a rather heavy sleeper. "Today?"

Niou turned over, back facing Amaya, to grab his phone. As he was browsing through his phone to see if he had any upcoming assignments or prior engagements, he heard Marui whisper, "Shit." Turning to face the pink-haired man, Niou gave him a questioning look. Noticing how Marui's face colour matched his hair, he traced his line of vision – to Amaya, who was sitting up.

"Sato," Yukimura stifled a laugh, "You might want to cover up a bit."

"Senpai…" Kirihara sighed, "This is her covering up."

"How is th-that co-co-cover-ing u-up?" Marui was torn between what he wanted to do as a man – look at the girl – and what he knew was the right thing to do – look away.

"Bunta, stop staring." The Brazilian lightly knocked Marui's head, which got even more flustered.

"Red suits you." Yagyuu, who pushed his glasses upwards, had a mischievous glint to his eyes.

As the men talked amongst themselves about Amaya's choice of sleepwear, or rather, lack thereof, Niou felt his patience thinning. "Out."

"Masaharu's the possessive type." Renji made a mental note, "It would be highly beneficial for us to step out of the bedroom at once." And thus, he turned around with the other young men following.

After lazily getting out of bed and freshening up, Amaya caught the black fleece robe that was thrown at her. Sighing, she reluctantly put it on. Covering up in the proximities of her 'home', was not something that she particularly liked to do. Sadly, she didn't have a choice, with the way Marui was acting and Yanagi's previous comment.

As she walked out to the living room, where the group of men sat, she felt all eyes on her. "Well, good morning to you all too."

"Good job Amaya, you scarred Marui-senpai with your red halter babydoll.[1]" After noticing his upperclassmen's questioning looks, he retorted, "Hey. Don't give me that questioning look. After being forced to go lingerie shopping by your childhood friend and girlfriend, you pick up a few things."

"Renji, give me one good reason to trust your supposed data ever again." Marui buried his face in his hands.

"Well, I proved to you that she is well-developed?" He tried to lighten the atmosphere, which was unsuccessful with Niou glaring at him (not that it really bothered him much).

"That, I must say, you did." Yukimura nodded in agreement. "And it's a nice combination. Your red… babydoll, was it? Yes, that and your black robe. Very nice."

"Thank you." She smiled naughtily. Amaya knew that Niou wanted to lunge at the purple-haired man, but his respect for his captain did not allow him to do so. Therefore, he just sat there, breathing deep and trying to calm himself. She found the site of Niou being so frustrated so amusing that she had to add on to it. "I'll have say that I would actually rather to be not wearing this robe though."

"Genichirou, don't you agree that she is absolutely stunning wearing that?"

"… yes." The raven-haired man admitted, after all, he was a man and would rather not lie to Yukimura, knowing the consequences of doing so.

Throughout the years, Niou found that after impersonating Tezuka so many times, he had picked up on one habit: closing his eyes and pinching his nose bridge while bracing himself for a migraine.

If Tezuka thought his teammates were a handful, he should try keeping Rikkai in control. It was impossible. Even the most 'normal' one – he used to think it was Jackal – was not normal at all. Normal people don't scream "fire" while playing tennis, and they most certainly do not attempt to sneakily take a picture of their teammate's girl in almost no clothing.

~.~

And so, a couple of hours later, the group of Rikkai men, along with Amaya and Hiroki, arrived at Disneyland.

"Remind me why we are here in the freezing weather…." Kirihara shivered, attempting to wrap himself in his thin jacket even more. "Why did nobody remind me to bring my winter gear?!"

"Akaya, you're no longer a child. Why do we still have to remind you to bring a thick jacket, a scarf and mittens?" Yanagi sighed at how the man was still unable to take care of himself. Perhaps it was due to their babying when he was still in junior high, but how would he be able to take care of his future wife and children? He sighed again, wondering why he was worrying about Kirihara's future family, and for the nth time in the past few years that he isn't Kirihara's father. Heck, the 'child' is only a year younger than him.

Sighing in defeat, Amaya takes off her black scarf and puts it around Kirihara, a gesture that shocked the rest, who acted as if it was completely normal for that to happen. The Three Demons stared at Niou to see what kind of reaction he would have, but his attention was on his son. As soon as Amaya turned back to hold her son's hand, Niou asked, "Are you cold?" Amaya shook her head and continues to walk with the excited boy as he pointed to this and that. The silver-haired man let go of Hiroki's hand and was a few steps behind Amaya before he took off his own scarf and wrapped it around the archer.

Confused by the relationship that the three have, the rest of the team lagged a few steps behind. "Wouldn't it be easier if Masaharu just gave his scarf to Akaya then?" Sanada grumbled, not pleased that he was forced to tag along with this outing. Unexpectedly, something latched onto his leg.

"Come! Come!" Hiroki pulls on Sanada's pants in attempt to get the man to follow him.

As Sanada gets dragged on ahead by the small boy, Niou chuckled, "Seems like our almighty vice-captain is being controlled by a kid."

After a little bit, Hiroki changed his target of affection to Jackal, who happily reciprocated the attention that the toddler gave him.

"Look Sanada, it's your dance partner again." Yukimura chuckled. "Why don't you go say hi?"

"He's with that Hyotei genius… and a kid?!" Marui choked on his drink, "How come everybody have kids now?!"

"Oh, it's Sanada and his children, ahn?" Atobe greeted the team with his 'Atobe-style' greeting.

"You have a child of your own, Atobe. With a man, nonetheless." Sanada replied curtly.

"That, I'll have you know, is not my child." He pointed at the little girl, probably around 2 years old, who was in Oshitari's arms, fast asleep.

Both Niou and Kirihara who were barely paying attention for the past couple of hours suddenly became extremely attentive. The two mischievous tennis players glared at Oshitari, if looks could kill.

"Didn't know somebody as heartless as you would take a kid to an amusement park." Kirihara put his hand in his pocket, distaste shown clearly on his face.

"Now, now, Akaya, let's be nice." Yukimura tried to calm him down.

"This isn't any of your business. Don't get involved, Yukimura-san." Oshitari's voice sounded as slimy as a snake. If he wasn't human, his tongue would already be slithering on Yukimura's throat.

"Lay off my captain, asshole." Niou warned him. His friends were slightly taken aback by his tone. Hiroki walked up to his father to grab his much larger hand and stared at him with his big, innocent eyes. "Sorry, Hiroki. Go with Uncle Jackal to get some drinks for all of us please."

"Okay…" He nodded, reluctant to let go of his father's hand.

"Oh, Amaya, you already have a kid with him? I thought you wouldn't be able to, and even if you did, you'd only have another miscarriage." He snickered.

"And who are you again?" Kirihara growled, "You're just a nobody!"

"Oh, that's fine by me. But poor little Ama-chan here is trembling." The blue-haired tennis player walked closer to her, "I'm not going to hurt you, you know that I love you, right?" He extended his hand out to Amaya, but was instead punched by Niou.

"Remember, we still have the evidence to put a restraint order on you! Now get the fuck away from her." The trickster was ready to kill, and everybody surrounding them was aware of it. He looked down and took a deep breath before repeating himself, "Get the fuck away from her. Now."

"Now, now, Niou-kun. No need to be so nasty. You're just jea—"

"Alright Sanada, I will talk to you another time." Atobe grabbed his player's hand and pulled him away from the Rikkai men, "Sorry about this stupid idiot's attitude. I'll try to talk some sense into him. Amaya, just remember that we're still your friends, even now."

After the two former Hyotei tennis players (now separated into different universities) were well off into the distance, Sanada spoke up, "What else don't we know?"

"Vice-captain," Kirihara stared Sanada in the eye, "I don't mean to be rude, but this is none of your business. Please stay out of it."

"Akaya, you know it's better to be honest when Sanada asks you a question." Marui pitched in, "Captain will end up pulling some strings to find out otherwise, and you know what happens then."

Shuddering at the thought of Yukimura getting involved, Kirihara wavered a little bit before regaining composure, "No, this really is none of your business. Please respect her privacy."

And with that said, the rest of the group ended up dropping the subject, and spent their day entertaining Hiroki.

Niou stared at the auburn-haired girl, noticing how she looked at Oshitari when they had bumped into each other earlier, _why must you be trapped in this unhealthy cycle?_

* * *

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A/N: Thank you for the reviews/favourites/follows. As I have said before (or at least I think I have), it really means a lot to me. Also, I apologize for the extremely late update. I had been caught up with Christmas, New Years, and my job. And this is a rather short chapter, but I'm hoping to get the next chapter up within the next week. As I'm listening to my prof's lecture, I'm also writing the next chapter at the same time, so I do have high hopes for updating on time.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and don't be too sad that school is starting again.

With much love,

Jadyn.


	5. 04 Repeat

04 | Repeat

* * *

Amaya sat alone on the floor of her apartment, recalling the events that happened during the day. They had bumped into Oshitari and Atobe. She took a deep breath before slowly crouching down beside her bed. Extending her hand underneath her bed, she pulled out a box. _How cliche, _she thought, _why do I do this to myself?_

Although she knew how Kirihara and Niou would be disappointed and furious if they knew she still had _their_ photos, and gifts that _he _got for her, she still took off the lid of the box. Memories rushed to her as she stared at something that could have turned out so beautifully. She picked up the broken necklace, and examined it. The once beautiful, elegant, and royal necklace was now in pieces[1]. That was to be expected though, since a car had ran over it. Before she had the chance to drown herself in her memories again, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Amaya." A rich, deep voice came from the other line. A voice she recognized very much, a voice she missed dearly.

"Keigo, and just what are you doing, calling me at this time of the night?"

"I missed you." He said plainly, something that was so like him. "And I wanted to apologize again for Yuushi's terrible behaviour."

"I'm okay. I re-"

"Before you give me all that crap, let me remind you what my specialty in tennis is. _Insight, _dear, _insight._" Amaya cursed at him inwardly, "And don't you go cursing me either."

"Tell me why I miss your ass. Tell me one reason why I miss your ass."

"Because you know I always have your best interest at heart." He chuckled. "You're the little sister I never had."

"And Yuushi was the brother you never had." Her voice was void of emotion.

"Amaya, I - "

"It's okay, don't apologize." She looked up in attempt to prevent her tears from falling. "I don't regret it. It was just turned out... unexpectedly."

"You know he loved you, heck, he loves you. I know his way of showing it is cannot be excused, but he really does."

"I don't blame him." Her voice was trembling at this point. "It was his monster of a father."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being able to help."

"It's not your fault, Keigo. I'm thankful for everything that you've done for me." Amaya heard a low voice in the background, and smirked.

"Alright. You have to get your beauty sleep, as do I. Goodnight love."

"Goodnight Keigo. Go on and cuddle up to your boyfriend. I know he's right beside you. GOODNIGHT SANADA-SAN." Not wanting to deal with the aftermath of upsetting her upperclassman, she hung up immediately.

After hanging up, she unconsciously dialed a number. "Hello?" Frightened at the voice she heard over the phone, she was unable to speak. "Amaya?"

"Yuushi..."

"Amaya, it _is _you." He sighed in relief, "I'm sorry about today. I really am. I don't know what happened. I just... I just..."

"I know Yuushi, I know." She wasn't sure what else she was supposed to say. "Yuushi, I-"

"Amaya, I miss you. Please come back to me. I promise to treat you right this time. Please. Let me fix what I did wrong."

"I don't know Yuushi, I'm scared." She admitted, "I can't even be in your presence without shaking like how a child would before performing in front of thousands of people."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Amaya. Please... I only have you."

She was in tears, emotionally unstable. "I don't know, Yuushi! I told you I don't know!" Unable to take it anymore, she hung up on him.

_What have I become?_

~.~

At the unruly hour of 2am, the doorbell to her apartment rung. Surprise filled her face as she saw blue hair as she opened the door.

"I tried to call you so many times. I thought something happened to you." He pulled her into a hug, and she fit right into his arms like how she used to.

"I was taking a bath." She said simply and wriggled out of his grasp. "Yuushi, you need to leave."

"Please Amaya, give me another chance."

"Yuushi, you know I can't. You know -"

"I love you Amaya, please." His eyes were full of regret and sorrow.

And just like she used to, Amaya forgave him for everything.

~.~

The next day at school, she ran into Niou. Guilt consumed her. He had done everything he could to prevent her from getting back with Oshitari. As much as she liked to deny it, she knew that her relationship with the blue-haired man was unhealthy.

He had invited her to an outing with the regulars, something that she could not turn down for the sake of seeing Sanada's face.

"Masaharu, yesterday, Keigo called me."

"Oh, the _royal prince_ himself did. And what did he say?" Niou didn't particularly dislike Atobe, but didn't particularly like him either.

"He apologized for Yuushi's behaviour." Amaya smirked as she remembered what had happened when they ended the phone call. She decided that before telling the trickster about her phone call with Oshitari, she was going to enjoy the day with him. "And I think Sanada-san was there with him last night. heard a low voice say, 'Keigo, it's time you let her sleep.' So when I hung up, I told him to cuddle up to his boyfriend, and screamed 'goodnight Sanada-san!'. I hope he doesn't hate me for it."

"You did what?" Niou seemed to be amused by the archer's antic. "That is priceless!"

"Yeah! I can't wait to see his face today!" Amaya smiled brightly.

As they ran into Kirihara, she told him the same story. Unexpectedly, he did not go into a laughing fit. Instead...

"Wait! He's with Atobe? He's dating Atobe?"

"Akaya, where have you been?" Niou sighed.

"Yukimura-san always tells us about their dates!" She exclaimed, shocked at how slow her childhood friend is.

"I thought he was just teasing them because of the junior invitationals!"

"Akaya! That was years ago!"

"Wait! He's gay?!" Niou wanted to hit his head against a wall, or better yet, ram Kirihara's head against a wall.

As they continued to bicker about Sanada's sexual orientation, they reached the cafe the tennis players frequented.

"Good afternoon, all!" Amaya cheerfully sat down at the table.

"Well, somebody's in a good mood." Marui nudged Amaya, "What's up?"

"I don't think that's for me to say." She smirked, eyeing Sanada. "It smells like sex. I think somebody here had sex last night." Sanada turned bright red, choking on his drink.

"Okay, I'll admit it." Marui said, only to be hit by Jackal.

"Who do you think you're kidding?"

"So... who was it?" Yukimura spoke carefully, fully knowing whom Amaya was referring to. "I thought after Masaharu's incident, we agreed on full disclosure."

Silence.

"I'm bisexual." Sanada said quietly.

"Okay, so?"

"I'm in a relationship."

"What?!" Marui looked at the man wide-eyed.

"I'm in a relationship with Atobe Keigo."

"WHAT?!" Marui screamed.

"Finally. Took you long enough to tell them." Yukimura smiled.

"How long?" Yagyuu spoke up.

"Only four years."

"_Only_."

As the men continued to attack Sanada with questions, Amaya noticed a few familiar young men walking into the cafe.

"Amaya." Atobe walked up to her, with his old Hyotei team in tow. "That was not very nice of you last night. But thank you, it was extremely fascinating to watch him turn red."

"Keigo! We were just talking about you two! It seems like your boyfriend finally came out of the closet to his friends!" All eyes were on the two friends.

"And when were you planning to tell me about Yuushi?"

Silence filled the room again.

"Was I not supposed to mention it?" He asked, genuinely unsure.

"No, it's alright. I was planning to tell them anyways." She got up from her seat and stood beside Oshitari, "Guys, meet my boyfriend, though I'm sure you know him already."

Wordlessly, Niou got up and walked out of the cafe.

Atobe could swear he heard something break.

~.~

Amaya found herself lying wide awake again at night. She knew she had hurt him again. She knew she should have told him first. She knew she shouldn't have broken her promise. But every time she looked into Oshitari's eyes when he apologized, she could not help but forgive him. Perhaps it was just for a sense of belonging, perhaps it was because he was the only one that, aside from her family, who were no longer with her, to have ever confessed his love for her. Does she still feel the same towards him as she did years ago? Probably not.

For the second time that month, her doorbell rung late at night.

"Hi Yuu-" She wanted to greet her boyfriend, but instead, had her head slammed against the wall. "That hurts, Yuushi!"

"Why didn't you answer my text messages?!" He roared, face filled with anger.

"I didn't get any messages!" She retaliated. Amaya knew she can't let Oshitari gain excessive control over her again. "Stop it!"

"You little bitch. How dare you ignore my messages!" Oshitari slapped her across her face, the loud 'thwack' echoing in her apartment alley.

"You're going to wake the neighbours! Yuushi, just leave for the night. I will talk to you another time." She fought back, dodging his second slap.

"You -" He was cut off by the opening of Amaya's neighbour's door.

"Sato-san, do I need to call the police for you?" The elderly man asked behind his own home's gate.

"No, I will be fine. Thank-you though, Suzuki-san." She smiled and apologized for the ruckus that the two of them caused.

Oshitari yanked the girl inside her apartment and threw her on the couch. He grabbed her arm and gripped it hard. "It hurts! Yuushi, stop!" She tried to get him off of her by kicking him. Unfortunately, it only further aggravated him and caused him to punch her stomach.

And thus, she lost all will to fight back as she remembered the incident a few years back.

_"Yuushi... I'm pregnant." Fifteen year-old Amaya told seventeen year-old Oshitari. _

_"That's not a funny joke, Amaya." Oshitari said without even looking up from his novel. _

_"I'm serious. I went to the doctor's today."_

_"Shoot..." He looked up and stared at his girlfriend. _

_"What are we supposed to do..."_

_"Amaya... I want to keep the child. I want to be the father that my father never was."_

_And so, young and naive Amaya believed him, only to have him betray her trust. _

_"Akaya is a good friend of mine!" She defended. _

_"He is from a rival school!" He was furious, he had lost to Kirihara in a tennis match. Unable to contain his anger, he slapped her, causing her to lose her balance and fall down two flights of stairs. _

As she continued to endure hits from her so-called 'boyfriend', she heard a voice.

"Amaya! Amaya!" Her door was being pounded, and with one final pound, it unlocks and opened, revealing Suzuki, her neighbour, Niou and two local policemen. Niou rushed to her side and knocked Oshitari off the girl.

"Sir, you will have to accompany us back to the station for further questioning." One of the two policemen informed Oshitari, then proceeded to take him away.

The other policeman walked up to Amaya and Niou, "Miss, I will bring you the hospital for a wound inspection."

"No, that won't be ne-"

"Thank you very much." Niou cut her off and lifted her up.

~.~

Although there were no serious injuries, only bruises and two handfuls of cuts, the doctor had insisted that she stay for the night for further monitoring since she had hit her head.

Niou sat by her bedside quietly, not speaking a single word after the doctor had left after his report. There was an awkward silence that filled her private room (Niou had insisted that she get a private room), one that was extremely suffocating.

"Masa-" She begun, hoping to ease the tension. Instead, he got up from the chair and walked out the room. "Or not." Amaya stared out into space, wondering what in the world was wrong with her, for her to trust Oshitari again. Even if he was the only one to ever voice his romantic feelings towards her, it didn't mean she had to fall right back into his arms. She was stronger than that. Except, when she was with him, it felt like everything was still okay, that her parents were still alive, that her brother was still alive, that _she_ was still living.

"I don't care what you do, I want that restraining order _now._" Niou's voice roared in the quiet hospital halls. Noticing the volume of his voice, he lowered it. Unfortunately, it meant that that was the only part of his conversation that Amaya heard. After a couple of minutes, he came back into her room, and sat down on the couch far away from Amaya.

"Masaharu." She tried to get his attention again. Despite his lack of a response earlier, she knew that it was ultimately her fault that he was so upset. Not many things have the ability to drive the trickster insane like that. "I'm sorry for-"

"Don't be. It's not like you asked for it. It's not like you just crawled back into his arms like you didn't know he was going to do that." Niou was pissed. He was on the verge of snapping, and Amaya knew it.

"I didn't want this either!"

"Of course you didn't, but you knew it was going to happen. You didn't seem to mind so much a month ago, now did you?" The old Niou Masaharu was coming back out, and he wasn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around when wounded and hospitalized.

"Masaharu, I know you care, but in the end, it's really none of your business who I'm dating."

"Of course. Of course it's not."

And like that, he upped and left.

* * *

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**A**/**N**: So once again, I apologize for the delayed post. I had fell victim to the flu once again, second time this month actually. My immune system is probably non-existent. Or close to that. Anyways... I swear I tried to keep the boys as straight as possible. But as soon as Atobe got involved in this, it just seems like... Sanada... they were just begging for a dance. Or maybe I'm just insane.

This has got to be the most informal author's note I've written for this fic... It's the flu I tell you, the flu. If you're stuck in bed days in a row without mental stimulation, it makes you go crazy.

So onto what's actually rather relevant...

I hoped I explained why Amaya got back together with Oshitari well enough. She's not a weak character, but at the same time, she is. She has lost her family at a young age and became a 'teenage mother', unlike Niou, who was practically an adult and was always pretty independent (which must have been hard as well). Oshitari is just a false sense of 'security' in the sense where it makes her feel like her parents are still there, and she's not alone.

And about how Niou was acting like the 'old Niou Masaharu'... The one that was generally consumed by his own feelings, rather than to contain them and be able to remain calm. I tried to portray Niou here as a rather mature, yet fun character. I didn't want him to lose his 'edge', but certainly, age (as well as being a 'father') has kept him grounded. Hopefully, I've been successful.

But yes,

Thank you for reading, and hope you enjoyed this chapter.

With much love,

Jadyn


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